Lens turret and filter disk combination



June 29, 1954 J. soLsEY LENS TURRET AND FILTER DISK COMBINATION Original Filed March 26, 1946 lukr a Patented June 294, 1954 LENS TURRET AND FILTER DISK COMBINATION Jacques Bolsey, New York, jN. Y. v

Application December 15, 1948, Serial No. 65,473, now Patent No. 2,515,330, dated July 18, 1950, which is a division of application Serial No. 657,282, March 26, 1946, now Patent No.

2,462,302, dated February 22, 1949.

Divided `and this application June 16, 1950, Serial No.

6 Claims. l

My present application is a division of my copending U. S. patent application Serial No. 65,- 473, filed December 15, 1948, for Cinematographic Cameras, which application has matured in Patent No. 2,515,330, issued on July 18, 1950, and which application, in turn, is a division of my copending U. S. patent application Serial No. 657,282, led March 26, 1946, and entitled Cinematographic Cameras, the latter application having matured into Patent No. 2,462,302, issued on February 22, 1949.

My present invention relates to cinematographic cameras and more particularly to cinematographic cameras provided with movable lens carrying turrets.

It is an object of my present invention to provide blocking means which prevent operation of the camera shutter if none of the lenses is in proper picture taking position.

The novel features which I consider as characteristic for my invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specic embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a cinematographic camera according to my present invention, seen in direction of arrow of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a cross secton through the camera shown in Fig. l, along line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the front wall of the camera housing of the camera shown in Figs. 1 and 2, seen in direction of arrow 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the camera shown in Figs. l to 3, along line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through the camera shown in Figs. 1 to 4, along line 5 5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section through the shutter operating lever forming4 part of the camera shown in Figs. l to 5, along line 6 6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a rear view of the shutter operating lever shown in Fig. 6, seen in directionof arrow. 1 of Fig. 6;

Figs.8 and 9 are schematic illustrations of the shutter operating means in different positions; and

` Fig. 10 is a partial bottom view of the shutter operating means, partly in section alongA line IU--IofFg-. v

As shown in Figs. l and 2, my new camera comprises a camera housing of well known type equipped at its iront end with a shutter compartmenty 2| which is closed in usual manner by a removable front wall 22 detachably secured to the camera housing 20 by means of screws 23. The housing 20 itself is closed by the camera cover 24.

I wish to stress that the construction of the film transporting means arranged in the housing 20 itself are of well known type and therefore are neither shown nor described in detail. My present invention as dened above relates only to arrangements in the front compartment 2| and therefore, only these arrangements are shown in the drawing described below.

A turnable turret 25 is secured by means of the pivot 26 in well known way to the front wall 22 of the camera. This turret carries the lenses 2l, 28, and 29. The front wall 22 is provided as usual with an exposure aperture 30 which, as shown I in Fig. 1 in dotted lines, is located behind lens 28.

In accordance with my present invention, I provide immediately behind the front wall 22 a turnable iilter disc 3| as clearly shown in Fig. 3. This filter disc is provided with six filters 32 to 3l having different characteristics.

In order to enable ope-ration of this filter disc 3| in a simple way, I provide in the side Wall 38 of the camera housing 20 a longitudinal slot 39 through which the edge of disc 3| projects. Thus, it is possible to turn the disc 3| about its pivot 4| simply by moving the projecting edge portion 40 of the disc in direction of arrow 42.

For proper operation of the camera it is necessary to know which lter is located behind the picture taking lens, i. e. which filter is located behind the exposure aperture 30. For this purpose, the lter disc 3| is provided on its front wall with lter indicating markings 43 to 48 which are arranged equidistant from the pivot 4| of disc 3| so that each time one of the lters 32 to 31 is located behind the exposure aperture 30 the corresponding lter marking is located behind an observation aperture 49 provided in front wall 22 of the camera housing 20.

Of course, it is impossible to see this observation opening 49 in the front wall 22 through the turret 25; Therefore, I provide in this turret two additional observation openings 50 and 5|, arranged so that each time one of the lenses 2`| and 28 is located in front of the exposure aperture 30, one of the` additional observation openings 50 and 5|, respectively, is located in front of the observation opening 49 in the front wall 3 22. I wish to stress that if camera lens 29 is in front of the exposure aperture 38 no additional observation opening in turret 25 is necessary, since in this position the turret 25 wil not cover the observation opening 49 in the front wall 22 of the camera housing.

In order to facilitate proper positioning of the filter disc 3|, I provide in the edge thereof six notches |25 each corresponding to one of 'the filters 32 to 31; these notches cooperate with the spring member |24 in well known manner so as to indicate when the disc is in proper position and to prevent unwanted turning of the disc.

In order to prevent operation of the camera, i. e. exposure of film when the turret 25 is not in proper position, I provide along the outer edge 52 of the turret three notches`53,'54, and 55 which are arranged so as to engage the lever 56 turnably secured at 51 to the front wall 22 of `the camera, when the turret 25 is in proper operative position with one of the lenses 21 to 29 located in front of the exposure aperture 30.

This lever 55 is connected by means of the turnable pivot 58 with an operating arm 59. This operating arm 59, in turn, engages a notch 60 provided in the shutter blocking lever 6| pivoted to the front wail 22 by means of pivot B2. This shutter blocking lever 6| is provided at the end of its arm 53 with a blocking pin B4 adapted to turn into and out of the path of the rotatable shutter 65 firmly secured at 56 to the driving shaft61. Spring 68 is secured at its one end 69 to front wall 22 and its other end 10 to arm 1| of the shutter blocking lever This spring 68 tends to turn the blocking lever 6| in direction of arrow 12, i. e. so as to move pin G out `of the path of the rotatable shutter 65.

This shutter blocking mechanism operates as follows:

When the turret 25 is in proper position shown `in Fig. l, lever 59 is in the position shown in Fig. l and does not move the blocking lever 5| in counter-clockwise direction into the path of the rotatable shutter 65. Thus, this blocking lever 6| is `free to be turned by spring 68 in direction of' arrow into the inoperative position shown in Fig. 2, In such inoperative position of the blocking lever 6| the rotatable shutter 65 is free to turn undisturbed by the blocking pin 64.

When the turret is in incorrect position, ire. no lens is located in front of exposure aperture 30, the lever 56 is forced by the turret edge to turn in counter-clockwise direction thus forcing `the blocking lever 6| to turn against the direction of arrow 12; this results in turning of the blocking pint!! into the path of shutter 65 preventing movement of the same.

In accordance with my present invention, I arrange in the front compartment 2i of thecamera Ahousing 20 also a fading arrangement of an entirely new type. This fading arrangement comfprises a turnable fading disc 13 mounted by means respectively; of the camera housing 20. This operating member is freelyslidable indirection of arrow 86 and its movement is only limited by the operating knobs 81 and 88 provided at both ends of the operating member 8|.

As shown in Fig. 4, the lower end portion 89 is attached to the operating member 8| by means of a hinge 90 so that if the operating member 8| is pushed into its lowermost position, the portion 89 can `be bent backward, thus locking the operating member 6| in this position.

It is evident that it is easily possible to manually turn the fading disc 13 by simply pushing either knob 81 downward or knob 88 upward; such pushing movement will result in turning of disc 13 and movement of the fading gray wedge 16 past `the exposure aperture 11.

If it is desired to operate the above described fading arrangement by the spring means transporting the nlm, an additional tooth rack |26 is -provided on member 8| and a turnable operating lever |20 is arranged so that either one of the gears |22 and |23 or none of them engages the teeth of rack |26. The gears |22 and |23 are driven by pinion |2I rotated by the spring'means mentioned above in opposite direction. It isevident that if pinion |2| rotated infcounter-clockwise direction and the operating lever is in the position shown in Fig. 4, gear |22 moves the operating member 8| upwards. If, however, the operating lever |20 is tilteddownwards, gear |23 will engage rack |20 and move member 8| in downward direction.

In order to enable permanent observation and control of the position of the fading disc -13 and the fading grey wedge 16, I combine Iwith the longitudinal operating member 8| an indicating member 9| which reaches into the `viewiinder tube 92 and appears, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, behind the viewfinder window 93. Thus, this indicating member 9| will move up and down together with the operating member 8| and its position will always be an indication of the `position of this operating member and the fading means operated by the same.

As mentioned above, I provide also in accordance with my present invention a shutter operating arrangement 94 of entirely new type, clearly shown in Figs. 5 to 10.

The main element of `this arrangement is the operating `lever 95 itself which has the shape shown in Figs. 5 Ato '1. As shown, the lever V95 is provided with two operating projections 96 and 91. Furthermore, this operating lever is provided with two lug-shaped bearing extensions .98 and 99 which are attached by means of pivots |00 to the two bearing brackets |0| and |02 forming part of a yoke-shaped bearing member |03 turnably pivoted at |04 to the partition wall 18.

Thus, the operating lever 95 is turnable on the one hand about'the pivots |00, as indicated'by arrow |05 in Fig. 6, and on the otherhand about pivot |04, as indicated by arrow |06 in Fig. 5. As shown in Fig. 6, a spring |01 is secured at |08 to the operating lever 95 and arranged so asto engage with its free end the camera wall, thus tending to turn the lever 95 in direction of arroWiIUS.

The shutter operating projections 96 and 91 of the shutter operating lever 95 cooperates with two operating pins ||0 and arranged onthe rotatable shutteri65 at different distances from the pivotingaxis 66 of this shutter.

The shutter operating lever 95 projects through a slot ||2lin the bottom `wall 85of theicamera housing 20 and-is provided at its end -withfan operating knob |13. The slot ||2 has the'shape tion shown in Fig. 9.

' shown .inFig; Y10, i. eds-providedwitha middle portio'nfl I I'4'which is deeperthan the two side f'p'ortionsIISandIII.` v -;..This .shutter operating'mechanism operates as -fol1o'ws:

In Aorder. lto obtain free rotating movement of lthe shutter 65, i. e, in order tovobtain motion picture exposures,v the operating: lever .95 is moved `thus both projections96. and 91 forming part of the lever 95 will move out of the path of the :operating -pinsaIIU and: III` arranged on the rotatable shutter 65; thus, these pins IIO and I II `will be free to turn 4together with the shutter 6.5.unhindered by the shutter operatinglever 95. It'` is-evident that' this will result in an uninter- .rupted series of motion picture exposures.

l In order to terminate such motion picture ex- 1posures, it is only necessary to release the oper- -.ating knob II3 and the operating lever 95 will be, turned by spring I01 in .direction of arrow I09back into its. initial middle upper position shown in Fig. 8.

1 In order to obtain one single instantaneous ex- `posure, it is only necessary to move the oper- 'ating lever 95v from its position shown in Fig.

8 intoits position shown in Fig. 5. This will against the operating projection 91 on lever 95 as shown in Fig. 5. During this turning move- .ment, theexposure aperture 11 is exposed once for a short. time, thus resulting in instantaneous J exposure of the film passing behind it.

In order to have the operating lever 95 again in `its initial position, it is only necessary to turn Vit from its position shown in Fig. 5 into its position shown in. Fig. 8. During such turning movement of lever 95, pin III will be released `from projection 91 and will abut, as shown in Fig. 8, against projection 96 without,.however,

exposing during such movement the exposure aperture 11.

In order to obtain` one single time exposure, it is only necessary to turn the operating lever 95 from its position shown `in Fig. 8 into its posi- Such movement of lever 95 will result in release of the operating pin III from projection 96and turning of the shutter 'from'its positionshown in Fig. 8 into its position shown in Fig. 9 in which it is held by pin IIO abutting against projection 91. As clearly shown in Fig. 9, in this position the exposure aperture 11 is open, not covered by shutter 65. After making a time exposure of desired length, the. exposure aperture is closed again by turning the operating lever 95 from its position shown in Fig. 9 back into its position shown in Fig. 8. Such turning will result in release of the operating pin IIO from the projection 91 and turn- Inig of the 'shutter ss from its position shown --in Fig. 9 into its position shown in Fig. 8 in which itis held by the operating pin I I I abutting against the projection 96 of lever 95; `sible. to obtain by different movements vof the shutter operatinglever 95 either motion picture Thus, it is posexposures or instantaneous exposures or time exposures.

6 I wish to stress that various changesand variations might be made in cinematographic `cameras of the above described type without departing in any way from the spirit of myf present 5 invention.

- erably arranged along the edge of the lter disc normal to the plane thereof.

A further change which might .be made without departing from the spirit of my present invention consists in mounting the turnablefilter disc on the partition wall or a bridge secured thereto instead ofmountingit on the removable front wall ofA the camera. y

Furthermore, it is Lalso possible to provide along the edge of the lter disc identical markings appearing on the projecting filter ldisc portion and corresponding to the iilter located .behindy the lens being in picture taking position. kIn this connection, I wish to mention Vthat it is usually notnecessary that all apertures in the filter disc contain filter members but that it is advisable to leave one of the apertures in the lterdisc open so asto makeit possible to take pictures without anynlter arranged behind'the picture taking lens.

It should also be stressed that although I have mentioned above only spring meansforoperating the camera, I might also use yfor transporting the nlm and rotating the shutter an electric motor built into the camera in the usual way.l

Finally,` it should be mentioned that motion transmitting means, e. g. a` gear train connectingthe spring or electric motor operating the camera and the fading arrangement described above might also serve as stop means for automatically terminating operation of the camera at the end of a fading out period. Such automatic termination will be due to the fact that at the end of a fading out period the fading member cannot move farther preventing turning of the single gears of the gear train which in turn will block further movement of the nlm transporting means and of the spring or electric motor driving the same.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together,l may also rind a useful application in other types of cinematographic cameras differing from the types described above.

While I have illustrated and described the invention as embodied in cinematographic cameras provided with turret heads, I do not intend` to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a cinematographic camera in combination a camera body having a front wall; an exposure aperture in said front Wall; a lens carrying turret movably secured to said front wall in such a manner that the lenses carried by said turret are adapted to move during movement of said turret past said exposure aperture in said front wall; a compartment arranged in said cam- 1era body immediately behind said front Wal-l; a 4,turnable filter disc located in said compartment and being turnably pivoted to said `front Wall; a

plurality of lters in said lter disc arranged bysaid turret is located in front of said exposure aperture `in said front wall; and iilter markings on said filter disc arranged so as to appear during turning of said iilter disc consecutively one after the other in said observation opening and to indicate the filter' located at that time behind said exposure aperture.

2. In a cinematographic camera in combination a camera body having a front Wall; an exposure `aperture in said front Wall; a lens ca-rry- 'ing turret movably secured to said front wall in ,such a 'manner thatthe lenses carried by said y.turret are adapted to move during movement of ysaid turret past said exposure aperture in said front Wall; a compartment arranged in said camera body immediately behind said front Wall; 5

a turnable filter disc located in said compartment yand. being turnably pivoted to said front wall parallel to the same; a longitudinal slot in a side wall of said camera body arranged so that an edge portion of said turnable filter disc projects 5 through said slot thereby enabling turning of said -turnable filter disc by said projecting filter disc portion; a plurality of lters in said filter disc arranged equidistant from the pivoting axis of .said lter disc so that said filters might be turned consecutively one after `the other behind said exposure aperture in said front Wall; an observation opening in said front wall; a series of additional observation openings in said movable lens carrying turret arranged so that one of said addil tional observation openings is located in front of said observation opening in said front Wall whenever one of said lenses carried by said turret is located in front of said exposure aperture in said Afront wall; and filter markings on said filter disc arranged so as to appear during turning of said filter disc consecutively one after the other in said observation opening and to indicate `the filter located at that time behind said expou sure aperture.

3. In a cinematographic camera in combination a vcamera housing; a removable front wall; means removably securing said removable front Wall to said camera housing; an exposure aperture in said removable front wall; a lens carrying 1' turret `turnably secured to said removable front Wall in such a manner that the lenses carried by said turret are adapted to be turned consecutively oneafter the other in front of said exposure aperture in said removable front wall during turning of said lens carrying turret; a turnable filter disc turnably pivoted to said removable front Wall parallel to' the same; a plurality of filters arranged in -said filter disc equidistant from the pivoting axis of said lter disc so that said lters might be turned consecutively one after the other behind said exposure aperture in said removable front wall; .an `observation opening in said .removable front Wall; a series of `additional `observation openings in said lens carrying turnable turret arranged so that one of said additional observation openings is located in front of said `iobservation opening in said removable front wall each ltime one of lsaid lenses carried by said turret is `located in front of said exposure aperture in said removable front wall; lter Vmarkings on said filter .disc arranged so as to appear during turning of said filter disc consecutively one after the other in said observation openingin said removable frcnt wall and to be visible through one of said additional observation openings in :said lens carrying turret when one of said lenses Vcarried by said turret is located in front of :said

exposure aperture in said removable front Wall;

and a longitudinal slot in a side wall of said camera housing arranged so that an edge vportion of said turnable lter disc projects through said slot, thereby enabling turning of said lter disc by said projecting edge portion of said filter disc.

4. In a cinematographic camera, in combination, a camera body having a front wall formed With `an exposure aperture and with an observation aperture spaced from said exposureaperture; a lter disc located over said apertures, being turnably mounted on said front wall Ion .one side thereof and having a plurality of iilters adapted to be successively located opposite said exposure aperture; a plurality of filter-identifying markings located on said filter `disc and adapted to be successively visible through `said observation aperture when said lters are successively located opposite said exposure aperture, respectively; a lens turret turnably mounted on said front Wall on the opposite side thereof from said lter disc and carrying a plurality of lenses adapted to be successively located opposite said exposure aperture, said lens turret being located over said observation aperture and being formed with a plurality `of openings adapted to be suc- .cessively located opposite said observation aperture when said lenses are successively located opposite said exposure aperture, respectively, so that said filter markings are visible through said openings in said lens turret and through observa.-

tion aperture.

5. In a cinematographic camera as defined in claim 4, said markings being located at-the same distance from the center of rotation of said filter disc as said observation aperture and said openings in said lens turret being located at the same distance from the center of rotation of said lens turret as said observation aperture.

6. n a cinematographic camera as defined in claim 5, said lens turret and lter disc being turnable about axes which are spaced from each other.

References Cited in the ille of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 561,132 Roche June 2, 1896 616,760 Baker Dec. 27, 1898 `1,494,801 Pittman May 20, 192.4 1,613,363 Tessier Jan. 4, 1927 1,893,327 Howell Jan. 3, 1933 2,021,765 Billing Nov. 19, 1935 2,205,179 Schultz June 18, 1940 2,386,878 Nickerson Oct. 16, 1945 2,442,750 Coote June 8, 1948 

